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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : June 11, 2015 6:21 PM IST
February 4 is World Cancer Day.
Yoga can help manage and beat several diseases including dreaded ones such as cancer. But in order for it to work, you need to know the right technique. In the book Yoga for Cancer: A Guide to Managing Side Effects, Boosting Immunity, and Improving Recovery for Cancer Survivors author Tari Prinster jots down the seven building blocks of yoga. She calls them the Y4C methodology. Here is an excerpt from the book explaining these seven stages of yoga in detail.
1. Dynamic Stillness: How to Sit
According to Swami Rama, We are taught how to move and behave in the external world, but we are never taught how to be still and examine what is within ourselves. At the same time, learning to be still and calm should not be made a ceremony or part of any religion; it is a universal requirement of the human body. 2
Your yoga practice starts with Dynamic Stillness. Dynamic means moving, while stillness means just the opposite. Even when we are sitting still with our bones comfortably settled, there is movement happening within the body. Also read how a woman survived cancer with yoga.
Our breath never stops expanding and contracting our lungs, our heart never stops pumping blood, our digestive system constantly absorbs and transports nutrients. All of the body s involuntary systems continue to function while we sit still. That is what is dynamic. The stillness is voluntary.
The act of sitting too is voluntary. When you think about it, the body is a container. The skin wraps around the architecture of the bones the skeleton which defines the size of the container. Inside are all the necessary parts, organs, and fluids to keep you alive. This is you. Where is that container right now?
At this moment of beginning your yoga practice, your container is in that special space you have determined, or in a yoga class, sitting on a yoga mat or in a chair.
Becoming aware of where you are now may seem silly. But learning how to recognize this special feeling will bring you a profound understanding, serving as the start of your mind-body connection. You, in all your flesh and bones, are taking up space in the universe. Yes, the whole universe, in all its infiniteness.
When I think about this, it makes me feel both tiny and important. I feel tiny because of the vast reaches of space and time, but important too, because my finiteness is part of an infinite universe, if even for the tiny second of one small lifetime. To reflect, I need to sit and be still.
In yoga, we learn how to sit how to place our bones within the framework of infinite space and time. Start by taking a seat on your yoga mat, as if you re at the center of the universe which you are at this moment. You can also sit on a chair or stool, or on a bolster, cushion, or yoga block, cross-legged or with legs folded beneath you. It is important you find a position that is comfortable and stable enough that you can hold it for at least three minutes without fidgeting, shifting, or feeling any discomfort.
2. Pranayama: How to Breathe
Now that you have found your seat, you are ready to find and explore the first principle of y4c yoga, the breathing space, where you will quite literally learn how to breathe in a new way. In chapter 2, we learned why we need to focus on breathing, and how the breath nurtures and detoxifies our organs and cells, strengthening our immune system and keeping the body resistant to cancer. We also discussed the muscles used in creating the breath. The practice of doing yoga as a form of breathing is called pranayama, breath practice, or controlled breathing. With pranayama, you ll learn how to control, strengthen, and even enjoy the breath.
Breathing is simply the act of moving air. It creates a continuous supply of oxygen for cells to grow, heal, and stay alive. Muscles of the respiratory system move oxygen-rich air in and out of our lungs, so there is good reason to keep these muscles strong.
The breath movement has three parts: inhalation is the expansion thatdraws air into the lungs, exhalation is the contraction to push air out, and retention is the pause between inhaling and exhaling. It is here that we find stillness, using the respiratory muscles to hold air in or keep it out.
The exercises we will describe later in the book will strengthen the muscles that allow you to breathe and, in turn, increase your awareness and understanding of the breathing process. You will also enjoy the natural physical and mental relaxation that comes along with pranayama in a yoga practice.
3. Meditation: How to Quiet the Mind
Yoga teaches us to think differently and deeply about simple things in life like sitting and breathing. The same applies to how we use our minds. The word meditation has different meanings and misconceptions, the most common being that you just do it, and that directions are not necessary. Just like with breathing, most of us go through life thinking we do not need to learn anything about how to meditate, much less practice doing it. However, meditation involves much more than sitting still and blissing out. Here's a 10-step meditation guide.
Prior to my diagnosis, meditation did not come naturally to me. Perhaps I was too American in my thinking always looking to my to-do list, distracted by the noisy world around.
Meditation is not another something to do. It requires learning to let go and it can t be forced. We have to learn how to be still. There is that word still again. It pops up almost as often as the word practice. Think about these words, use them, get comfortable with them.
Meditation is a gentle skill we want to learn, one that keeps the usual activities of the mind still, calm, and quiet. In other words, we are not thinking, not just doing something, and that includes not sleeping.
Meditation is a practice in many religions and spiritual traditions. Here are a few interpretations of meditation:
Nothingness: The practice of being in the moment, or as I like to call it, brain laundry, the practice of keeping your mind clear of everything thoughts, ideas, feelings. It is an active exercise that requires effort; you re consciously using your mind to keep your thinking space clear of thoughts. This sounds easier than it is in practice, especially if you are new to meditation.
Watchfulness: The practice of sitting and waiting to see what pops up, then observing that thought without reacting.
Exploration: The practice of mentally traveling to a place with a specific thought, idea, or image in your mind, holding it and observing it.
Repetition: The practice of whispering or mentally reciting a mantra or prayer is called japa.
Whether you are experienced or a beginner, each time you meditate stay with the intention, method, or tradition you chose that day. For new and experienced practitioners, it is expected that your mind will wander. That is what minds like to do. Thoughts come and thoughts go. Notice in that second and start over. It takes practice.
Meditation requires three things:
A comfortable seated position
A commitment to being curious about how it feels to not think. (I know this is hard, but it is where the healing happens.)
The promise to yourself not to judge what comes up or happens. Observe and let go (catch and release).
Meditation is an essential survival tool for cancer survivors because we learn how to control, calm, and clear the mind of thoughts and ideas that are not useful. However, when practicing in a watchfulness tradition, for a cancer survivor, random thoughts can be frightening, not pleasant nor helpful to healing.
Remember, you are in charge. If a scary thought presents itself, sweep it out with a breath, let it go. Watch your breath and let go of your thoughts. Cancer has already given us the sit-down-let s-talk-about-the-here-and-now lesson. Which means that now it is time to sit and meditate with the thought you choose or with your quiet and uncluttered mind.
Just like yoga, many different meditation techniques and styles exist. And just like yoga, meditation can be confusing. The types I recommend are simple, yet challenging. Even not thinking for just one minute requires effort and practice.
It is a skill you can learn if you practice. For sure, the longer you practice, the more benefits you will experience. Length of time is not as important, though, as the quality of calmness you provide to the nervous system. Start with one minute, increasing that each time you practice. A daily five-minute meditation practice can have great benefits, like reduced anxiety and stress.
I think meditating twice a day is best. Let s add to the metaphor of meditation as brain laundry, meditation as mental hygiene. Do you not brush your teeth twice a day? Meditation is a great way to start the day. There is substantial research applying Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to aid insomnia, which is a common side effect during many cancer treatments. The benefits of meditation before sleep is advised by sleep therapists for many chronic conditions.3
4. Movement: How to Move with Ease
A cancer survivor wants to keep the immune system healthy and alert. Many ways exist to maintain a strong system, but the most critical and natural way is through movement. By mobilizing muscles and bones, we massage the organs in our body that are otherwise inert. In fact, lack of movement can be as harmful as cancer. Movement improves circulation and mobilizes fluids like blood and lymph, which keep organ tissues nourished, and movement allows the body to detoxify. Movement keeps the body healthy. In his book Light on Life, renowned yoga teacher and author B. K. S. Iyengar says, Movement is intelligent action. 4
In the most basic sense, movement is created when muscles move bones. Taking this idea further, yoga uses muscles to place the bones into poses, or asanas, and then moves the body from pose to pose in sequences designed to bring all body systems into balance: muscles, bones, organs, and even the mind. Every cell in the body, the container that determines your real estate on Planet Earth, benefits from forming a yoga pose and moving in a sequence to other poses.
5. Balance: How to Build Focus, Bone, and Strength
Picture in your mind a Cirque du Soleil performer: Her perfect sculptured bodyis tiny and flexible, a model of a healthy young athlete. One at a time, she placesa foot on the shoulders of her partner. Then, in what seems like a seamlessmovement, she lifts her left foot to that perfect spot on her partner s head. Likea bird taking flight, she rises onto the tippy-toe of her ballet slipper. All of herweight is balanced six feet above the ground atop a moving, breathing person!
Yes, this is a circus act, but we all do this every day when we place one foot in front of the next, walking down the street. We re moving, breathing objects balancing ourselves on another moving object, Earth. Like the circus performer, our body systems need to be working together to carry us through life. This is part of the balance we find in our yoga practice. Like the circus performer, we need to practice balance, and yoga poses help us do just that. Try surya namaskar - workout for your mind, body and soul.
Of course, it s hard enough to stay balanced on two feet sometimes, so why would you need or want to try balancing on one foot? There are many answers and they re all simple:
Challenging your balance tests your connection to the Earth. This can only be done when there is harmony between your thoughts and body.
Practicing balance poses increases your ability to focus. When this happens, it is easier to do the same when it comes to the other things in life that are important.
Weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones.
Good balance helps protect you from falling and breaking bones.
Good balance improves your posture, which helps you breathe.
Overall, practicing balancing keeps the immune system well.
You may wonder why so many yoga poses are performed on one foot, like the feats of a circus performer. One-foot poses teach us proper alignment of the spine and how to use the act of weight bearing to build bone. Correct alignment comes from knowledge and practice. When we are aligned, we use the strong bones of our body s frame to hold our weight. We learn that standing on one foot on our moving planet becomes easier.
Alignment makes balancing easier but so does breathing. This is the second way yoga teaches us balance. In doing balance poses, no matter how easy, let your effort be supported by your breath. I am sure you have noticed how a relaxed person enjoying a quiet moment does not breathe like a runner finishing a 100- meter race. You ve also never seen an anxious person breathe deeply, slowly, and with ease. So, breath quality whether hard, calm, fast, slow, shallow, or deep is the first and obvious indication of our state of mind and well-being.
The mind follows the breath. A calm breath will support your balance poses in a physical way, while practicing simple balancing yoga poses will train your body and mind to work together to stay balanced. Staying upright on one foot in Tree pose for thirty seconds may not be easy, for example, but a lesson is found in this state of mental and physical harmony. When the mind and body work together, we are calm and balanced.
This is why balancing is good for cancer patients. Call this mental focus or strength: it is healing to know how to clear your body and mind of anxious moments by standing on one foot! With the exception of lying on our backs, just about every yoga pose requires keeping bones properly placed through the use of our muscles, and supporting that with an easy breath. Balance is required even when standing on two feet or on all fours. Right here, right now.
6. Restorative Yoga: How to Actively Rest
Restorative poses have great benefits when used at the end of your practice to close and seal in the hard work you have completed. As you follow the restorative poses in my book, you ll notice they feel magical because we are surprised by the changes we experience. That magic, though, is based on scientific research that led to the development of restorative yoga, which means resting with purpose. When practicing restorative poses you re literally restoring balance in your body s architecture, organ functions, and mind.
Restorative yoga uses props like blocks, blankets, and bolsters to completely support your body so you can literally take a load off and reduce stress. (Your only movement will be when you arrange the props and get into the pose.) The props not only release you of effort, but also position your body in such a way so as to reduce strain on joints. Your body can completely relax into stillness. As it does, the mind relaxes into stillness too and grows calm and quiet.
Most restorative poses are done lying down, and the body is placed in one of the five spinal positions that are the foundation of every yoga style: elongation, forward (flexion), back (extension), side bends, and twists. Here is where the magic begins: when the body s architecture (skeleton) is properly aligned (especially the spine), effort evaporates and deep rest begins.
Earlier, we observed this process in the Dynamic Stillness (pages 92 93) and Meditation (pages 94 96) sections. Here though, the goal is total relaxation: the state in which there is no movement, no effort, no muscles holding bones. (This is different than a sitting pose, for example, in which the spine needs to be upright, with ribs stacked on hips, shoulders broad, neck lifted, and head balanced atop the spine.)
The poses can be sustained for ten minutes or more as long as you remain comfortable and are still experiencing the magic. Deep, delicious rest is just one reason why restorative yoga poses are so popular. What s more, all the benefits of regular yoga are achieved without effort.
Finally, I want to say more about cancer and restorative yoga. We know cancer increases stress. But what exactly is stress? It is a term borrowed from physics and engineering that, when applied to humans, describes a psychological state. When a building s structure or foundation is under stress, there is danger of collapse. Likewise, when the human body is weakened by lack of proper care, nurture, and nutrients; injury; disease; or immune system failure, stress is created. Here are 21 variations of yoga you can try.
When it comes to yoga, stress is a very good reason for survivors to include restorative poses in every yoga practice. Restorative yoga nourishes the entire body and its systems. Most importantly, a strong immune system is achieved when all the body s systems find balance and work in harmony.
Relaxing is a nervous system response to the special placement of the spine in different positions, and it rejuvenates the musculoskeletal system. When combined with breathing exercises, the respiratory system gets stimulated. Even gentle movement of the breath revitalizes the digestive organs and stimulates the endocrine system. So, all aspects of the immune system are involved in every restorative pose.
Cultivating attention and focusing on the breath are two other goals of restorative yoga. When the mind wanders during these poses, you are encouraged to think about how your breath is moving in and out. This is the only movement allowed! Each exhale is an opportunity to release distracting thoughts as well as muscle tension.
The body s capacity to heal itself is infinite, and for most of one s life it does this well. Deep relaxation starts inside, just like healing, and it comes from within. The more you relax, the more peaceful you become, and the more healing you give yourself.
We have another magical benefit from restorative yoga. Our bodies and moods change every day. Restorative yoga is wonderful if included after more vigorous, energizing movement and balance sequences, but it could also be done on its own, depending on your mood or feeling that day. This may be appropriate at some stages of cancer recovery. Having a balance of both movement and rest in our daily lives is what keeps us strong and healthy.
7. Savasana: How to Seal It In
Savasana is the bliss spot in a yoga practice and its most important ingredient.
For this pose you simply rest comfortably with your back flat on your mat, arms slightly away from the body with hands open to the sky. The ultimate goal of Savasana is sealing in all your work on the mat from the other poses. Your restorative poses paved the way, and this last pose completes your practice.
Don t be alarmed: the word Savasana is Sanskrit for Corpse pose. It has alternate names, all of which describe its corpse-like posture: deep relaxation pose, final resting pose, and in the y4c method, Sunset pose.
Sunset pose, as I refer to it, may not seem like much, but it s the most essential pose of a yoga practice, especially for cancer patients and survivors. In fact, this pose is the ultimate restorative pose that is always at the end of your session and should never be skipped. Like all restorative poses, Sunset pose uses no muscular effort, no thinking, and no moving.
Few if any props are used. If you are cold, you can cover yourself with a blanket to keep warm. If you experience discomfort in your back, you can place a rolled blanket or bolster under your knees.
Sunset pose incorporates a natural breath. It is complete and utter relaxation.
Even so, it might just be the hardest pose to perform in your practice. At least it was for me. Here are more tips to do shavasana correctly.
When I restarted my yoga practice during and after cancer treatments, I found Sunset pose difficult and scary. Difficult, not because I could not do it, but because I could not get physically comfortable. Something was always in pain: my back, my hips, my joints. Once I realized where and how to place folded blankets beneath my legs and back, and stopped judging myself for not being able to relax, the lingering muscle tension eased.
Several months of shifting and experimenting were necessary. Teaching the body to relax is not easy, nor is it fast. In my case, my mind was the problem! My brain kept sending signals based on muscle memory to hold myself tightly and not release, sending the message, Things are not quite right. I am still working. Once my bones were supported by soft blankets, muscles released and sent signals to my mind with the message, I don t need to keep working. I m okay. Let s both relax. Now, with many years of yoga experience, I quickly find that bliss spot.
This is the letting go that yoga teachers talk about. My muscle memory is programmed through practice to alert my brain to the good things to come.
Ah, ten minutes of relaxation! In short, like any other yoga pose, Sunset pose takes practice. We have to learn how to do it.
If the monkeys in your mind start swinging in the trees, hang in there. For cancer patients and survivors, there are many things we do not like to see, inside and out, and worries could pop up during Sunset pose, bringing unwanted stress and making it harder to achieve conscious rest. Tense muscles and joint pain could accompany these thoughts, making the resting pose more anxietyinducing than healing. Meditation can help calm your mind so your body can heal. Here are other ways to tame the monkeys that distract us:
Learn how to make yourself comfortable using blankets to support your body.
Accept the precious gift of time to heal. It s not expensive to be still in the mind and body.
Imagine the sunset as you perform the sunset of the day s yoga practice.
It s okay if you bliss out, or even fall asleep. Try not to sleep, but if you do, accept the rest as a gift to yourself.
Remember: Everything has a cycle, be it a single breath, a life, a human cell, or a yoga practice. Everything has a beginning, middle, and end point. As things begin to end, the anticipation of the new beginning arises. The natural closing of each day with a sunset is necessary to make way for the next sunrise.
There s no need to rush. Use this time your time to heal and restore.
Yoga for Cancer: A Guide to Managing Side Effects, Boosting Immunity, and Improving Recovery for Cancer Survivors is authored by Tari Prinster and published by Simon and Schuster.Click here to buy the book. Watch this space for more excerpts.
Image source: Getty Images
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